Bring the Virtual to Your Table Top
Caution
This project is in very early development. There are very few features implemented, and the project is not set up for more than one contributor. If you happen to want to try this, reach out to me personally.
Physicalize
: To give physical form or expression to
A "Physicalized Game Interace" (PGI) is a game interface that lets the user interact with the actual digital world in a corresponding actual physical space. The XBox Kinect, for example, is a PGI. Motion controls, however, are not PGIs; the virtual control space has limits the physical control space does not.
This particular project is a PGI meant to assist with tabletop gaming. A Virtual Table Tops (VTT) provides a lot of niceties that help speed up game play and make the tabletop experience ergonomic. These features can range from health and statistic trackers, to automatic grid snapping, to virtual measuring tools. This project aims to bring that utility in to the real world, onto a physical tabletop.
There is simply no replacement for the social setting of a physical table. While many players can't participate in their campaigns physically, I always prefer to be sitting around an actual table. The social aspect is unmatched.
This project is loosely based off of the Folk Computer project. For more information, please read the design docs.
Melody Henrich (she/her), BS Computer Science + Game Development, Khoury College at Northeastern University, Class of 2025.
Caro Murphy (they/them), Professor and Game Design Program Director, College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University.
Brandon Sichling (they/them), Professor, College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University.